Sighting in surplus rifles

[Gil Martin]

I spent a pleasant afternoon at the range working with various military rifles. My Kar98k has a barrel that is about excellent and it really likes my reloads. I noticed that groups were moving around and after removing the front sight hood noticed the sight blade was loose. I tightened up the dovetail with a flat punch and a hammer. This rifle cost me $110.00 and will be used in the club Battle of the Bulge Match rifle match in December. I even found a box and half of once-fired Remington cases in the trash barrel.

The next rifle was the U.S. 1917 Winchester and it is a shooter. A previous owner made seven notches in the stock. I guess somebody shot seven of something. I was going to sand the notches away, but declined because it adds character. This rifle likes my reloads and IMR4350 pushing 150 grain spitzers. I may use this one in the upcoming deer season.

If you have a surplus rifle, my recommendation is to shoot it. All the best...
Gil

[Adam Helmer]

Gil,

Excellent post. I have a Kar 98k that likes my handloads. My P-17 Eddystone and the battle sight is +2 inches at 100 yards with 150 grain spitzers. I got some Russian 200 grain soft point loads that my "1942" M91/30 puts on point of aim at 100 yards. My first gun afield this season is a Swede M1938 and 139 grain handloads.

Adam

[Jack]

One of these days I'm going to take my old M-1 Garand into the deer woods.
I have gotten as far as working up a load with 150 Ballistic Tips, but I haven't hunted with it yet.